I’ve managed to fall into a monthly rhythm with this series without even trying. However, I may do an extra one this month in honor of NaNo.

For today’s journey, I’d like to take you to a small region that wields significant influence in the Uplands — some might even say disproportionate influence.

The Arrowhead

The Arrowhead is a sort of island between two forks of the great river Everwash. Everwash flows south out of Everfeld into the rolling plains of the Uplands, splits in two, and then converges again several miles south.

The eastern branch is the wider of the two and is still known as Everwash. Along the western branch, however, are stands of massive willow trees hanging over the banks of the river, giving this branch its name: Wiló Run.

As we’ve already learned (if you’ve been paying attention in class), the rivers of the Uplands are the life blood of the trade city Driftport to the south. Thus, sitting between Everfeld, a region of largely isolated communities, and the Marsh made the Arrowhead prime real estate for enterprising tradesmen.

Arrowheaders

No one can say for certain who arrived first, but about 700 years before the events of WoEM, two clans left Everfeld and settled the Arrowhead.

The Hursts established Aerópoint at the north end of the Arrowhead, while the Wilós settled the southern tip and founded the trading port of Wiló’s End.

Each clan used its strategic position at crucial points along Everwash to profit from the flow of trade north and south. Competition between them, however, soon led to conflict, and then war.

The conflict was short, but bloody, and the clans Hurst and Wiló declared a truce and built the Aerófort as a symbol or peace.

Now, after generations of cooperation, mingling, and intermarriage, the Hursts and Wilós of the Arrowhead are quite inseparable. With significant trade traveling both directions along Everwash, Wiló’s End and Aerópoint have become two of the largest trade posts in the Uplands.

Trade and War

Following the Northern Migration, the settlements of the Arrowhead remained key pieces of the trade that sustained Driftport and the Uplands through years of drought, famine, and war.

But in the series of conflicts that have plagued the region in the decades since the Migration, some have taken note of the power and wealth that Arrowheaders freely wield.

The single most important question facing all Arrowheaders now is: how long can they survive this violence unscathed?

Steve D